Problems w Prisons

After watching videos like “Books Not Bars” and hearing the stories from incarcerated youth, or those affected by the juvenile prison system, it not only opened my eyes to how detrimental our justice system is to those serving time, but also how important it is to raise awareness about this issue. Unfortunetly, incarcerated youth-even if they are wrongfully accused-get very little sympathy in our society. They are dehumanized and viewed as a problem, rather than young people that need help. Something I remembered from our readings last week is that using video as a tool can help bring the human element into activism. When I was watching the videos from the incarcerated youth and their families, I found their stories to be particularly engaging in grabbing my attention and forcing me to care about an issue that I don’t hear about or think about on a daily basis. Seeing that these kids are not actually these juvenile delinquents that society so strongly dejetcs, but young adults who have been mistreated by our own justice system, forced me into seeing the humans behind the stories. These videos allow incarcerated youth and their families to tell their sides of the story, something that is very rarely done.Video storytelling can be an extremely effective way to force people to see issues they wouldn’t otherwise see, and hopefully force them to care about the people on the screen.

Have people who work in/are involved in prisons seen this video (or videos like it)? They’re the people who are creating these awful, unsupportive places. I can’t tell if they just have zero awareness of what’s going on and how their institutions are effecting people, or if they simply just don’t care and don’t see those who are incarcerated as people.